Satisfaction (The Temptation Series #2)

by K. M. Golland

  “So, no romantic dates at Cirque du Soleil, then?” I enquired teasingly.

  His eyes widened. “No, definitely not.”

  “No movie nights watching IT?” Now I was taunting him.

  “Are you quite alright, Alexis?” I don’t think he enjoyed my joking at his expense, but I continued anyway because it was fun. I cued my baby voice and went and sat on his lap.

  “Aaww, baby, I’ll protect you. I’ll yank on their big red nose, pull their curly orange hair, and stand on their big floppy feet.” He squinted at me and poked his fingers into my ribs, tickling me. “Stop it Bryce.”

  “Oh, you don’t like being tickled?”

  “No, I hate it. Please stop, I’m sorry.” He kept tickling, making me wriggle and squirm. I struggled to get free of his grip, and we fell on the floor. “I’m sorry, no more clowns I promise.” He stopped momentarily, lying on top of me.

  “Alexis, tell me you love me.”

  “I love you, Bryce.”

  “Tell me you’ll never leave me.” His eyes were pleading for the answer he so desperately wanted. Could I promise him this? I wanted to, really I did, but I was not a single entity. I came as a package of three.

  “I will try with everything I have in me to never leave you.” I knew this was not what he wanted me to say.

  “Tell me you will marry me one day.” Oh shit! Again I wanted to, really wanted to, but talk of remarriage was not even in the picture right now.

  “Bryce, if we make it through the toughest times and you ask me, then yes, I will one day marry you.” His face lit up, and he leaned in for a kiss. I wasn’t lying, at this very point in time I meant the answer I just gave him. If down the track we were in a position to, then yes, I would marry this man. Of course I would.

  “That’s all I need to hear, my love.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Captain Paul’s voice came over the speaker, breaking the intense conversation we were having about future nuptials, which if it weren’t so hot and romantic, would be utterly crazy at this point in time.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Clark and Ms. Summers. Would you please both fasten your seat belts, we are about to begin our descent into Connellan Airport. The estimated time of arrival is 6 p.m., and the current ground temperature is 32 Degrees Celsius, thank you.” We got to our feet and buckled ourselves in. Bryce was smiling from ear to ear, probably a result of the promises I just made him, and the fact we were about to land in a place neither of us had been before. I smiled back at him and looked out the window, spotting a hefty lump of red-brown on the ground.

  “I see it, I think I see it!” I got all excited over the fact I just identified a ginormous mound of sandstone rock.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Clark, Ms Summers, you may have noticed out the right-hand side of the aircraft what you think to be Uluru, this is in fact, Mt. Connor, and is mistaken for Uluru quite frequently.” I deflated and pulled a sad face. Bryce tilted his head to the side in sympathy. “If you continue to look out the right-hand side of the aircraft, you will be able to see Uluru in approximately five minutes time.” I did just that, and kept looking out the window.

  It was very exciting. I had wanted to visit Ayers Rock ever since learning about it at school. And despite the fact I was now an adult, the curious element of a monstrous rock in the middle of nowhere was still not lost on me. My anticipation grew as I scanned the reddish brown dirt searching for it. Bryce leaned forward and pointed to just behind where I was looking. I turned back completely, covering the window with my head, and there it was. Wow, it’s freaking HUGE! That was an understatement, it was gigantic. It literally looked like it fell from the sky and hit the ground with a thud!

  “That’s incredible,” I exclaimed, wide-eyed.

  “That’s nothing, my love.” He had an excited glint in his eyes. What now? Does this man plan everything?

  ***

  We landed at Connellan Airport and thanked Amy and Paul for their brilliant skills and hospitality. A young man greeted us as we exited the aircraft and helped with our luggage. Bryce comfortably held my hand as we followed him across the tarmac. I tried to recall the last time Rick had held my hand, and for the life of me could not think of a time post having children. Surely not! I stopped straining my brain for a memory that appeared to not be there, when I noticed that we were heading in the opposite direction of the terminal.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. Bryce looked at me quizzically, and with his free hand motioned up ahead. I followed his finger, which was pointing at a helicopter. My eyes widened and I swear my stomach did a backflip. “Are we flying around the rock?” Of course we are, you idiot. This is Mr Pilot Clark we are talking about. Bryce lifted my hand to his mouth, and gently grazed the top of it with his lips.

  “Of course we are, Hunny.” Oh, just like that, as if there was no other thing in the world we would be doing. The young man opened the door to the cockpit and loaded our luggage into the back. Bryce then led me to the passenger side and lifted me in, and by the look on his face, I would say he was more excited than I was. He fastened my belt, handed me some headphones and closed the door. I watched him as he spoke to the gentleman who handed him a clipboard. He seemed so relaxed, and possessed an uncanny ability to be able to communicate with absolutely anyone. They shook hands and Bryce headed toward the cockpit, beaming like a beacon and radiating joy; it was infectious and spread over me like wild fire.

  “Okay, Ms Summers, we are about to see this beautiful rock at sunset from the best seat in the house.” I looked out the window and he was right; the sun was near the horizon. Oh my goodness. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Ayers Rock at sunset, but to see it from within a helicopter with the man of my dreams was truly amazing. If it wasn’t highly childish, or wouldn’t have looked utterly ridiculous, I would have bounced up and down in my seat and shook my head like a maniac. Argh.

  He started flicking switches, and compared to the last flight he pilot, I paid a little bit more attention. It probably had something to do with the fact that this time, I didn’t have a woman in labour making whale noises next to me, nor was I suffering a concussion after a car accident. He looked so delicious as he took hold of the steering wheel and the hand brake thingy. I know that’s not what they are called, but that’s what they look like to me. He pulled the handbrake thingy up, causing us to rise, and it wasn’t long before we were high in the air. We headed in the direction of what can only be described as a giant wall of red/orange, and as we flew closer the wall got bigger. The sheer size of Ayers Rock was beyond belief, it looked like you were only a few hundred metres away, when in fact, you were kilometres. It was simply phenomenal. The top of the rock was actually quite wide in area, when you looked at it from the front, you got the impression it was long and skinny, but it wasn’t. It’s width was nearly as long as its length. We were quite high up, especially when you took into consideration the height Ayers Rock was from the ground. I was curious as to exactly how high we were, so I asked the extremely talented and sexy pilot sitting next to me.

  “How high are we?”

  He looked at me strangely. “About 6,500 feet. Why?”

  “How high can one of these things go?” I looked directly down—which in my case was never a good thing to do—then I looked back at him waiting anxiously for his answer.

  He smiled. “Approximately 14,000 feet, but you wouldn’t want to go any higher than 9,000 feet, especially if you need time to safely get to the ground in the event of a fire.” I turned my head to him. What freaking fire? Why would there be a fire? “Don’t worry, my love, you are perfectly safe.” He smiled reassuringly. I believed him, I felt nothing but safe around him, I just didn’t like to hear the words fire, helicopter, and ground all in the same sentence. He lowered the chopper back down to a height level with the top of the rock. I think he did this to ease the concerns he thought I had. Either that or he did it to get the full effect as the sun began to descend. Uluru changed colour like magic right befor
e your eyes, one minute it was bright red, and the next it was orange—it was truly beautiful. I reached over ever so slightly, and put my hand on his leg. He glanced down at my hand, then back out towards the rock.

  “This is simply beautiful, thank you.”

  “It’s nothing in comparison to you, my love.” I rolled my eyes and blushed. He winked at me then he turned the chopper quite sharply. I screamed, not out of fear, but more out of excitement at the sudden change of direction and angle we were now taking.

  “Shit, Bryce, a little warning would’ve been nice.”

  He laughed at me. “Do you like being upside-down?” Upside-down? In a helicopter? Hell no!

  “No, don’t you dare! I mean it! Anyway, this thing can’t go upside down.” I hoped I was right, although I had no fucking idea. He looked at me with that ‘do you dare me face’ and straight away, I began to shit myself. “No, no, no. Please no, I’ll do anything you want.” I regretted it the instant I said it. His face returned to a shade of calm, but now he seemed quite satisfied with the advantage he had just managed to secure.

  “Anything?” He raised his eyebrow.

  Ah Fuck. “Yes, although that’s not fair.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Did you want to go round one more time, or head to the lodge?” I put my finger up to request one more lap, he smiled and took us around again. The buses parked in the car park below looked like little white Lego blocks, and I could make out a couple of climbers on their way down. From a helicopter really was the best way to see Ayers Rock.

  “Ready to go back?” I shot him a ‘what do you think look’, which he deciphered instantly. He smiled and turned the chopper back in the direction we came.

  I assumed we were heading back to the airport, but became aware of our diversion when I noticed what looked like a group of white spots on the ground not too far ahead. They stood out because the only other colour around them was red. As we got closer, it became apparent the white spots were in fact little white tee-pee style buildings. There was a helipad next to them, and I now knew that was our target. Bryce landed the chopper with ease. He climbed out and came around to my door. He went to help me out, but I just sat there staring at him. “Are you coming, Ms. Summers?” I tilted my head to the side. Yes, in more ways than one, Mr. Clark.

  “Thank you,” I said sincerely.

  “For what?”

  “For everything.” I aggressively pulled him to me and attacked his mouth. He let me, but only for a short while, before breaking away.

  “It’s what I do, Ms. Summers.”

  “I’m not sure I want to be called that anymore.” I felt sad at having a surname of a man that no longer loved me. He touched my cheek.

  “What do you want me to call you then?” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “One day you might call me, Mrs. Clark.” I watched the joy of what I had just said wash over him like a tidal wave. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me toward one of the white cone-shaped huts. I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed, it was like a dream. But I should not have said that—Summers was my name—it was my children’s name too, and despite the fact the man who gave me that name had betrayed me, it was still my name. Alexis, you idiot.

  ***

  We were greeted at the edge of the helipad by a woman dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts.

  “Bryce, you can put me down now.” I whispered as she approached.

  “No.” He answered quite sternly.

  “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Clark.” I coughed and subdued a coincidental laugh. Bryce squeezed my leg and whispered into my ear.

  “I like the sound of that.” He beamed and waggled his eyebrows up and down. I agreed, it did sound nice, but it was still way too soon. Alexis you are caught up in the moment, what were you thinking? You should have kept your mouth shut.

  “My name is Dorothy, and I will be your host here at Outback Hideaway. Please follow me, and I’ll show you to your room.” She called out to a middle-aged man to fetch our bags from the chopper.

  “Bryce, you can put me down now.” I whispered again.

  “No.” He replied. We followed her along a board walk. The ground was covered in thick, red dirt, at least I’m pretty sure it was dirt, I guess it could be some kind of sand too. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something scurry through the dirt and go underneath the boardwalk. I swear I caught the glimpse of a scaly tail. What the fuck was that? I was so glad I was still up in his arms or I probably would’ve screamed. I hate reptiles. Frogs I love, but creatures with scales, I don’t.

  “This will be your private lodge. It’s unlocked and everything you need should be inside; dinner will also be delivered shortly. If there is anything further you require, please do not hesitate to contact me on the in-house telephone. Enjoy your stay.”

  “Thank you, Dorothy, could you please deliver our meals at 7:30 p.m.? We would like to get settled in first.”

  “Certainly, Sir.” She practically curtsied, then walked away. Settled in? Is that what we are calling it now? He carried me up the steps and opened the sliding glass door with his foot and elbow. I couldn’t help but remember the last time I was carried like this into a hotel room, and I cursed myself the second that memory entered my mind. I forced it back down with the others that seemed to want to rear their ugly heads.

  “Here we are my love, home for the next three days.” The room was beautiful. As you walked in, the first thing you noticed was a king-sized bed in front of a dark red feature wall, well that was the first thing I noticed anyway. Of course it was, Alexis, you little devil. The flooring was a dark hard-wood, making a very striking contrast to the crisp, white linens. The roof went up like a tee-pee, and was made of a white canvas material, resembling flowing curtains, giving the room a touch of both elegance and romance.

  “You can put me down now, Mr. Clark.” He set me down, and like a child I took off to explore my new surroundings. The feature wall worked like a labyrinth, and when you walked behind it and turned to the left you found yourself in another room, a room with a small kitchenette and dining area. This room led out to a private balcony and swimming pool. I stepped onto the balcony and was struck with awe at the fact Uluru was pretty much smack-bang in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was just stunning. Everything was perfect. Bryce was perfect. And this little tee-pee lodge was perfect, different, but perfect.

  I wandered back to the bedroom in search of Bryce. He was accepting our luggage and talking to the helpful man who had delivered it, so I continued to investigate our perfect little love nest. I had not yet found the toilet and was extremely close to peeing my pants. Thankfully, I found the bathroom behind the feature wall and to the right. Brilliant! I relieved myself instantly, but realised I had not locked the door. Oh shit, what if he comes in and sees me sitting on the toilet? I wasn’t ready for that. Oh, but you were ready to tell him, you would one day marry him Alexis! Figure that one out. I was so overwhelmed it wasn’t funny. I just needed to breathe, gather my bearings and take one step at a time. Yes, I was here in a fairy tale with a new man, but I was still technically married, and my husband had no idea where I was, let alone what I was doing.

  I suddenly felt terribly guilty. No, Alexis, he admitted to sleeping with Claire, and at that stage you had not gone that far with Bryce. True, I had not gone that far when he confessed, but I had now, numerous times, daily! Alexis, stop thinking of Rick. You are with Bryce, he loves you and would never cheat on you. But how could I be so sure? I was sure Rick would never have cheated on me, either. Argh, stop it, stop it, fucking stop it. I mentally bitch-slapped myself in the face, I’m glad I did it, because if I went back and forth about this whole situation any longer I probably would have exploded and self-combusted on the spot. I washed my hands and splashed a little water on my face. It was hot here, and I definitely needed some cooling down.

  Bryce came up behind me and placed a single white rose in front of my nose. I looked up at our reflection
s in the vanity mirror. Do you really need to deliberate your situation Alexis? Take a good long, hard look in that mirror. What do you see? I did just that, and calmness washed over me, removing any doubt or confusion I’d had moments ago. I took hold of the rose, and placed it to my nose, smelling the alluring scent I adored. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck, then joined me in my assessment of our reflections.

  “You think of everything, don’t you?”

  “It’s what I do, Ms. Summ...” He broke off. “It’s what I do, my love.” I turned to him.

  “Yes it is, and you do it so well.”

  He leaned in and caressed my lips with his own, then let out a breath and whispered. “You are exquisite, my love.”

  I moaned, wanting him to enter my mouth, but the fact he was hovering so close and not touching me with his tongue, was perfectly unbearable, and the anticipation of when that touch would come was about the hottest thing imaginable. I whispered back to him, making sure my breath entered his mouth. “So, how do you plan on settling in exactly?” He pulled away, and his look of pure, unadulterated lust hit me like a ton of bricks.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Bryce grunted, gripped my arse and lifted me to his waist.

  “I thought so,” I said, before he mashed his lips on mine, attacking my mouth and licking my tongue intensely. I pulled his head to mine, forcing him further into my mouth and deepening our hungry kiss. He gently bit down on my bottom lip, exciting me throughout and making me moan with pleasure.

  “I love your little moans, Alexis. They are so fucking sexy.” Oh holy fuck. In that case I’ll give you another. I let out another ‘sexy moan’ for him. He groaned fiercely and squeezed my arse with passionate force, taking my breath away.